DOCSLIB.ORG

Moses Mendelssohn Commentary on Moses Maimonides' “Logical Terms”

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Moses Mendelssohn Commentary on Moses Maimonides' “Logical Terms” Moses Mendelssohn Commentary on Moses Maimonides’ “Logical Terms”1 (Selection Translated from the Hebrew)2 {199} <25>3 PREFACE (To the Second Edition, 1765) This root sometimes signifies the .הגה is a substantive derived from the root 4הגיון The word endeavor of meditation,5 which is called by the philosophers6 inward or mental discourse; in 1 The commentary appeared in three editions during Mendelssohn’s lifetime: 1st edition, Frankfurt on the Oder, 1761; 2nd edition, Berlin, 1765; 3rd edition, Berlin, 1783–84. For more exact information and for everything that concerns the text, one must be referred to the Hebrew original. There it is also explained why the 2nd edition has been the basis for the text (and consequently also the translation). It should be mentioned that the preface is found only in the 2nd edition and that Mendelssohn spells out the relationship of the 2nd edition to the 1st edition at the conclusion of the preface (Logik 208.15ff.). {LS} 2 For LS’s German translation of Mendelssohn’s Hebrew (and of Moses ibn Tibbon’s Hebrew translation of Maimonides’ original Arabic, which Mendelssohn uses), see Mendelssohn, “Kommentar an den Termini der Logik des Mose ben Maimon [In Auswahl aus dem Hebräischen übersezt],” JA II 197–230; henceforth Logik followed by page and line numbers. 3 In the present English translation of LS’s German, page numbers in boldface inside curly brackets refer to JA II 199–230. Page numbers in boldface inside angular brackets refer to JA XIV 25–31 (preface), 45 (the excerpt from chapter 4), 51–66 (chapter 7), and 101–2 (the excerpt from chapter 11). A word of explanation is needed for some apparent incongruities and redundancies in the sequence of these page numbers. The incongruities and redundancies are only apparent. In JA II and JA XIV, Mendelssohn’s comments on specific Maimonidean passages, on the one hand, and the Maimonidean text containing those passages, on the other hand, occur in each case on the same printed page—in parallel, as it were (although the parallelism is vertical rather than horizontal). In contrast, the present translation reproduces each Maimonidean excerpt in full and waits till immediately following that excerpt to add Mendelssohn’s comments. Mendelssohn himself enumerates each of the Maimonidean passages on which he comments. He then uses those same enumerations when correlating his comments with the passages in question. The present translation retains Mendelssohn’s own enumerations—both those in the Maimonidean text (as superscripts in boldface followed by a close-parenthesis) and those introducing Mendelssohn’s comments—in order to facilitate cross-reference between the Maimonidean text and the Mendelssohnian comments. JA II and JA XIV page numbers are retained as well, despite the apparent incongruities and redundancies that result, in order to encourage and facilitate cross- reference between the present translation and the German and Hebrew originals. {the Hebrew word for “logic.” See Logik 203.5–6, below. {LS — הגיון 4 .in the Hebrewº text is “Meditation העיון והמחשבה Ger.:] Meditation. In parentheses after] 5 Betrachtung.” {LS} 451 other cases it designates utterance or discourse with the speech organs, which is called outward והגיתי בכל פעלך Joshua 1:8),8) והגית בו יומם ולילה or spoken discourse.7 For the Scriptural verses Psalm 49:4)10 all speak of the endeavor of meditation) והגות לבי תבונות Psalm 77:13 and 143:5),9) and the striving of the understanding, since here the heart is signified; and in the holy language “heart” designates the power of the rational soul that knows the truth about things. But in the לשונכם עולה תהגה Psalm 37:30),12) פי צדיק יהגה חכמה Job 27:4),11) ולשוני אם יהגה רמיה passages Job 37:2),15 speaking with the lips is) והגה מפיו יצא Psalm 115:7),14) לא יהגו בגרונם Isaiah 59:3),13) Sanhedrin 90)16 is signified he) ההוגה את השם באותיותיו signified. In the language of our Sages, by who brings to his lips the letters of God’s name. One word is applied to both aforementioned significations, on the basis17 of the relationship that exists between them; for speaking and thinking are inseparably bound to each other, like body and soul. Just as the body remains like a lifeless stone if the soul is separated from it, and the soul in turn vanishes from the perception of all mortals18 if it is not clothed in the body since it can be known to the human being during his life only by means of its activities of knowing, so discourse is related to thought. Speech without opinions and thoughts is nothing but a mere noise, like the sound of thunder and the sound of an earthquake,19 which are not the sound of words; and the {200} fleeting inward thought can reveal itself by means of bodily movement and cause an impression in the outside world only if it has clothed itself with a bodily robe. This revelation proceeds in the manner20 of the thought’s passing from the soul of the one discoursing to the brain, from there to the moving parts that belong to the speech organs, from there into the air, where it causes various movements in the ear of the hearer, until finally the hearer understands the intent of the one discoursing. This bond between the spiritual and the bodily is a quite wondrous thing.21 Because of it, every day we .See IPM XVIIIn23 .בעלי החכמה :.Ger.: Weltweise. Heb 6 7 [Ger.:] innere . äussere Rede. This relation is altered by Maimonides in chapter 14; cf. Aristotle, Posterior Analytics A.10. {LS; reading verwandelt for verwandt at JA II 408 ad loc.} 8 Heb.: And you shall meditate on it day and night. 9 Heb.: And I have meditated on all your actions. 10 Heb.: And the meditation of my heart is understandings. 11 Heb.: Nor does my tongue utter deceit. 12 Heb.: The mouth of the just one utters wisdom. 13 Heb.: Your tongue utters treachery. 14 Heb.: They do not utter in their throat. 15 Heb.: And utterance comes out from his mouth. 16 Heb.: He who utters the Name with his lips. Elsewhere, Grund is either “basis” or “ground” according .צד :.Or: ground. Ger.: Grund. Heb 17 to the context. .תסתר מעיני כל בשר :.Ger.: der Wahrnehmung aller Sterblichen entschwindet. Heb 18 19 Allusion to I Kings 19:11–13 and Isaiah 29:6. {LS} .אופן :.Ger.: Weise. Heb 20 .ענין נפלא :.More or less lit.: wonderful subject. Ger.: wunderbarer Gegenstand. Heb 21 451 452 recite the blessing, “. and does wonders,”22 as Moses Isserles says in Orach Chayyim VI.1 (q.v.).23 No investigation can penetrate it, can understand how the bodily movement in the brain changes into something spiritual,24 namely, into the representation25 and sensation26 of the soul; nor, similarly, how from this spiritual representation a bodily movement emerges in the brain. As for the assertion that Magen Avraham, ad loc.,27 adduces as the doctrine of the Book of Intentions,28 however, namely, that the soul is refreshed by spiritual food and the body by material food, <26> it agrees with scientific doctrine,29 to be sure. Modern investigations confirm that every food forms blood, and that from the blood emerges the pure and clear fluid that in German is called “nerve fluid” and is the source of voluntary movement and of sensation.30 Nevertheless, this assertion supplies no explanation for the aforementioned wonder. For the fluid we have spoken of is indeed something fine and pure and does not fall under the senses, and therefore has to be called something spiritual; but it is contained in space and enclosed in three dimensions, and it moves from place to place in a spatial movement.31 Thus, it does not consist in a representation of the soul; for this is not contained in space, is not enclosed in dimensions, and is not subject to spatial movement. We therefore do not know how a representation emerges from spatial movement and vice versa. Yet we have gone too far from our intention; for we wished only to point out the inseparable bond between inward and outward discourse. There is another, {201} deeper regard32 in which the dependence of inward on outward speech becomes clear; this rests on the following principle: each sensory representation33 has to do with the particular, and each intellectual representation34 has to do with the universal;35 i.e., each sensory representation is related to a sense-object36 that is one 22 The blessing to be said at the start of daily morning prayer: “Praised [art Thou, O Lord our God,] who heals all flesh and does wonders.” {LS} 23 Rabbi Moses Isserles of Krakow (1520–72).—Orach Chayyim is the first part of the Shulchan Aruch, the code of Jewish law composed by Rabbi Joseph Caro, which Isserles amplified with “Reports.” {LS} .דבר רוחני :.Ger.: etwas Geistiges. Heb 24 .השגה :.Ger.: Vorstellung. Heb 25 .הרגשה :.Ger.: Empfindung. Heb 26 27 Magen Avraham is the name of the commentary on Orach Chayyim composed by Abraham Abele ben Chayyim Halevy Gumbiner (1635–83). {LS} 28 The author of the Book of Intentions is the Kabbalist Isaac Luria (1535–72). {LS} .חקירה :.Ger.: Lehre der Wissenschaft. Heb 29 30 For the history of the views on “nerve fluid,” cf. Bela Révesz, Geschichte des Seelenbegriffes und der Seelenlokalisation (Stuttgart, 1917), 181, 185, 196–98. From the contemporary literature, cf. especially Haller, Elementa Psychologiae, vol. IV, bk. 10, sect viii, §§5 ff. {LS} .תנועת העתקה :.Ger.: räumliche Bewegung. Heb 31 .בחינה :.Ger.: Rücksicht.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Readings on the Encounter Between Jewish Thought and Early Modern Science
    HISTORY 449 UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA W 3:30pm-6:30 pm Fall, 2016 GOD AND NATURE: READINGS ON THE ENCOUNTER BETWEEN JEWISH THOUGHT AND EARLY MODERN SCIENCE INSTRUCTOR: David B. Ruderman OFFICE HRS: M 3:30-4:30 pm;W 1:00-2:00 OFFICE: 306b College Hall Email: [email protected] SOME GENERAL WORKS ON THE SUBJECT: Y. Tzvi Langerman, "Jewish Science", Dictionary of the Middle Ages, 11:89-94 Y. Tzvi Langerman, The Jews and the Sciences in the Middle Ages, 1999 A. Neher, "Copernicus in the Hebraic Literature from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century," Journal History of Ideas 38 (1977): 211-26 A. Neher, Jewish Thought and the Scientific Revolution of the Sixteenth Century: David Gans (1541-1613) and His Times, l986 H. Levine, "Paradise not Surrendered: Jewish Reactions to Copernicus and the Growth of Modern Science" in R.S. Cohen and M.W. Wartofsky, eds. Epistemology, Methodology, and the Social Sciences (Boston, l983), pp. 203-25 H. Levine, "Science," in Contemporary Jewish Religious Thought, eds. A. Cohen and P. Mendes-Flohr, l987, pp. 855-61 M. Panitz, "New Heavens and a New Earth: Seventeenth- to Nineteenth-Century Jewish Responses to the New Astronomy," Conservative Judaism, 40 (l987-88); 28-42 D. Ruderman, Kabbalah, Magic, and Science: The Cultural Universe of a Sixteenth- Century Jewish Physician, l988 D. Ruderman, Science, Medicine, and Jewish Culture in Early Modern Europe, Spiegel Lectures in European Jewish History, 7, l987 D. Ruderman, Jewish Thought and Scientific Discovery in Early Modern Europe, 1995, 2001 D. Ruderman, Jewish Enlightenment in an English Key: Anglo-Jewry’s Construction of Modern Jewish Thought, 2000 D.
    [Show full text]
  • Shulchan Arukh Amy Milligan Old Dominion University, [email protected]
    Old Dominion University ODU Digital Commons Women's Studies Faculty Publications Women’s Studies 2010 Shulchan Arukh Amy Milligan Old Dominion University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/womensstudies_fac_pubs Part of the History of Religions of Western Origin Commons, Liturgy and Worship Commons, Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons, and the Yiddish Language and Literature Commons Repository Citation Milligan, Amy, "Shulchan Arukh" (2010). Women's Studies Faculty Publications. 10. https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/womensstudies_fac_pubs/10 Original Publication Citation Milligan, A. (2010). Shulchan Arukh. In D. M. Fahey (Ed.), Milestone documents in world religions: Exploring traditions of faith through primary sources (Vol. 2, pp. 958-971). Dallas: Schlager Group:. This Book Chapter is brought to you for free and open access by the Women’s Studies at ODU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Women's Studies Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of ODU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Spanish Jews taking refuge in the Atlas Mountains in the fifteenth century (Spanish Jews taking refuge in the Atlas Mountains, illustration by Michelet c.1900 (colour litho), Bombled, Louis (1862-1927) / Private Collection / Archives Charmet / The Bridgeman Art Library International) 958 Milestone Documents of World Religions Shulchan Arukh 1570 ca. “A person should dress differently than he does on weekdays so he will remember that it is the Sabbath.” Overview Arukh continues to serve as a guide in the fast-paced con- temporary world. The Shulchan Arukh, literally translated as “The Set Table,” is a compilation of Jew- Context ish legal codes.
    [Show full text]
  • The Legal Status of Abuse
    HM 424.1995 FAMILY VIOLENCE Rabbi Elliot N. Dorff Part 1: The Legal Status of Abuse This paper was approved by the CJT,S on September 13, 1995, by a vote of' sixteen in favor and one oppossed (16-1-0). V,,ting infiwor: Rabbis Kassel Abelson, Ben :Lion BerBm<m, Stephanie Dickstein, £/liot JY. Dorff, S/wshana Gelfand, Myron S. Geller, Arnold i'H. Goodman, Susan Crossman, Judah f(ogen, ~bnon H. Kurtz, Aaron L. iHaclder, Hwl 11/othin, 1'H(~yer HabinoLviiz, Joel /t.,'. Rembaum, Gerald Slwlnih, and E/ie Kaplan Spitz. hJting against: H.abbi Ceraicl Ze/izer. 1he Committee 011 .lnuish L(Lw and Standards qf the Rabhinical As:wmbly provides f};ztidance in matters (!f halakhnh for the Conservative movement. The individual rabbi, hou;evet~ is the authority for the interpretation and application of all maltrrs of halaklwh. 1. Reating: According to Jewish law as interpreted by the Conservative movement, under what circumstance, if any, may: A) husbands beat their wives, or wives their husbands? B) parents beat their children? c) adult children of either gender beat their elderly parents? 2. Sexual abu.se: What constitutes prohibited sexual abuse of a family member? 3· verbal abuse: What constitutes prohibited verbal abuse of a family member? TI1e Importance of the Conservative Legal Method to These Issues 1 In some ways, it would seem absolutely obvious that Judaism would nut allow individu­ als to beat others, especially a family member. After all, right up front, in its opening l T \VOuld like to express my sincere thanks to the members or the Committee on Jew·isll Law and Standards for their hdpfu I snggc:-;tions for impruving an earlier draft of this rcsponsum.
    [Show full text]
  • Maharam of Padua V. Giustiniani; the Sixteenth-Century Origins of the Jewish Law of Copyright
    Draft: July 2007 44 Houston Law Review (forthcoming 2007) Maharam of Padua v. Giustiniani; the Sixteenth-Century Origins of the Jewish Law of Copyright Neil Weinstock Netanel* Copyright scholars are almost universally unaware of Jewish copyright law, a rich body of copyright doctrine and jurisprudence that developed in parallel with Anglo- American and Continental European copyright laws and the printers’ privileges that preceded them. Jewish copyright law traces its origins to a dispute adjudicated some 150 years before modern copyright law is typically said to have emerged with the Statute of Anne of 1709. This essay, the beginning of a book project about Jewish copyright law, examines that dispute, the case of the Maharam of Padua v. Giustiniani. In 1550, Rabbi Meir ben Isaac Katzenellenbogen of Padua (known by the Hebrew acronym, the “Maharam” of Padua) published a new edition of Moses Maimonides’ seminal code of Jewish law, the Mishneh Torah. Katzenellenbogen invested significant time, effort, and money in producing the edition. He and his son also added their own commentary on Maimonides’ text. Since Jews were forbidden to print books in sixteenth- century Italy, Katzenellenbogen arranged to have his edition printed by a Christian printer, Alvise Bragadini. Bragadini’s chief rival, Marc Antonio Giustiniani, responded by issuing a cheaper edition that both copied the Maharam’s annotations and included an introduction criticizing them. Katzenellenbogen then asked Rabbi Moses Isserles, European Jewry’s leading juridical authority of the day, to forbid distribution of the Giustiniani edition. Isserles had to grapple with first principles. At this early stage of print, an author- editor’s claim to have an exclusive right to publish a given book was a case of first impression.
    [Show full text]
  • Jewish Law Research Guide
    Cleveland State University EngagedScholarship@CSU Law Library Research Guides - Archived Library 2015 Jewish Law Research Guide Cleveland-Marshall College of Law Library Follow this and additional works at: https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/researchguides Part of the Religion Law Commons How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! Repository Citation Cleveland-Marshall College of Law Library, "Jewish Law Research Guide" (2015). Law Library Research Guides - Archived. 43. https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/researchguides/43 This Web Page is brought to you for free and open access by the Library at EngagedScholarship@CSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Law Library Research Guides - Archived by an authorized administrator of EngagedScholarship@CSU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Home - Jewish Law Resource Guide - LibGuides at C|M|LAW Library http://s3.amazonaws.com/libapps/sites/1185/guides/190548/backups/gui... C|M|LAW Library / LibGuides / Jewish Law Resource Guide / Home Enter Search Words Search Jewish Law is called Halakha in Hebrew. Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life. Home Primary Sources Secondary Sources Journals & Articles Citations Research Strategies Glossary E-Reserves Home What is Jewish Law? Need Help? Jewish Law is called Halakha in Hebrew. Halakha from the Hebrew word Halakh, Contact a Law Librarian: which means "to walk" or "to go;" thus a literal translation does not yield "law," but rather [email protected] "the way to go". Phone (Voice):216-687-6877 Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and Text messages only: ostensibly non-religious life 216-539-3331 Jewish religious tradition does not distinguish clearly between religious, national, racial, or ethnic identities.
    [Show full text]
  • The Rama Earned Him His Doctorate from Yeshiva University
    GIANTS OF TRADITION Asher Siev The second subject of our series on the "Giants of Tradition" is presented by Rabbi Asher Siev, whose thesis on the Rama earned him his doctorate from Yeshiva University. Rabbi Siev is spiritual leader of Congo Kehilath Israel in the Bronx, and is assistant professor of Bible and instructor in Hebrew grammar and literature at Yeshiva College. His book, The Rama, was published by Mosad Harav Kook in 1957. THE RAMA According to popular legend, Rabbi Mosheh Isserles lived thir thee years, durg which tie he composed thity three important works, died on the thi thrd day of the Orner (Lag B'Omer) in the year five thousand three hundred th thee, and in euogizg him thir thee outstanding praises were emphasized. Of these only the day of his passing is historically correct. The legend points neverteless to the fact that Rabbi Isserles captued the imagination of his people, and that many legends were woven around his life as they usually are around the lives and activities of all beloved and revered personalities. We are indebted to Rabbi Mosheh Isserles for having stadardized the German-Polish decisions and Mínhagim (custom) in matters of Jewish law and stamping them with the impress of authority. Moreover, by supplementing his Mapah ("Table Cloth") to the Shulchan Arukh ("Prepared Table," the standard code of Jewish law) of Rabbi Joseph Karo, he helped unite Sephardic and Ashkena- zic Jewry in the use of a single Code of Law, which was gradually accepted as the final authority in renderig legal decisions.
    [Show full text]
  • The Dying Person in Jewish Law and Ethics Philip J
    Loyola University Chicago Law Journal Volume 37 Article 7 Issue 2 Winter 2006 2006 The hS attered Vessel: The Dying Person in Jewish Law and Ethics Philip J. Bentley Agudas Israel Synagogue Follow this and additional works at: http://lawecommons.luc.edu/luclj Part of the Medical Jurisprudence Commons, and the Religion Law Commons Recommended Citation Philip J. Bentley, The Shattered Vessel: The Dying Person in Jewish Law and Ethics, 37 Loy. U. Chi. L. J. 433 (2006). Available at: http://lawecommons.luc.edu/luclj/vol37/iss2/7 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by LAW eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Loyola University Chicago Law Journal by an authorized administrator of LAW eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Shattered Vessel: The Dying Person in Jewish Law and Ethics Philip J. Bentley, DD* I. INTRODUCTION On the day when Rabbi died the Rabbis decreed a public fast and offered prayers for heavenly mercy. They furthermore announced that whoever said that Rabbi was dead would be stabbed with a sword. Rabbi's handmaid ascended the roof and prayed: 'The immortals desire Rabbi [to join them] and the mortals desire Rabbi [to remain with them]; may it be the will [of God] that the mortals may overpower the immortals.' When, however, she saw how often he resorted to the privy, painfully taking off his tefillin and putting them on again, she prayed: 'May it be the will [of the Almighty] that the immortals may overpower the mortals.' As the Rabbis incessantly continued their prayers for [heavenly] mercy she took up a jar and threw it down from the roof to the ground.
    [Show full text]
  • Making Jews Modern in the Polish Borderlands
    Out of the Shtetl Making Jews Modern in the Polish Borderlands NANCY SINKOFF OUT OF THE SHTETL Program in Judaic Studies Brown University Box 1826 Providence, RI 02912 BROWN JUDAIC STUDIES Series Editors David C. Jacobson Ross S. Kraemer Saul M. Olyan Number 336 OUT OF THE SHTETL Making Jews Modern in the Polish Borderlands by Nancy Sinkoff OUT OF THE SHTETL Making Jews Modern in the Polish Borderlands Nancy Sinkoff Brown Judaic Studies Providence Copyright © 2020 by Brown University Library of Congress Control Number: 2019953799 Publication assistance from the Koret Foundation is gratefully acknowledged. Open access edition funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities/ Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Humanities Open Book Program. The text of this book is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non- Commercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License: https://creativecom- mons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. To use this book, or parts of this book, in any way not covered by the license, please contact Brown Judaic Studies, Brown University, Box 1826, Providence, RI 02912. In memory of my mother Alice B. Sinkoff (April 23, 1930 – February 6, 1997) and my father Marvin W. Sinkoff (October 22, 1926 – July 19, 2002) CONTENTS Acknowledgments....................................................................................... ix A Word about Place Names ....................................................................... xiii List of Maps and Illustrations .................................................................... xv Introduction:
    [Show full text]
  • On Kashering Glass Vessels RABBI HOWARD HANDLER
    On Kashering Glass Vessels RABBI HOWARD HANDLER This paper was adopted on January 17, 1990 by a vote of seven in favor, eleven opposed and no abstentions (7-11-0). Members voting in favor: Rabbis Ben Zion Bergman, Elliot N. Dorff, Dov Peretz Elkins, David H. Lincoln, Mayer E. Rabinowitz, Joel Rembaum, Seymour J. Rosenbloom. Members voting in opposition: Rabbis Kassel Abelson, Amy Eilberg, Richard Eisenberg, Jerome M. Epstein, Arnold M. Goodman, Herbert Mandl, Lionel E. Moses, Avram I. Reisner, Joel Roth, Steven Saltzman, Gordon Tucker. Must glass cooking utensils be kashered? There were three opinions among the Rishonim on kashering glass utensils: 1) Rinsing is sufficient even if the utensils had been used to cook food in them. 1 2) Glass utensils may not be kashered.2 3) Glass utensils may be kashered by immersion in boiling water (il737lil). 3 Joseph Karo and Moses Isserles wrote as follows: 4 ,w:m c,w ~"N T'~n:t Cil:t w~nw~ ,,,tlN, C,'i'' TO')~~ ,,,tlN n,~,~T ''~ ,,~, c,,~,N, T','~"~ lV', : illil .,il7 'lO N~7l7:t iltl'~ll.':t, C'l77,:t C)'Nll.' i'"~O] ,,N nU'1~:J, T)~ll.'N:J lm~il p, ,il7 ')il~ N7 il737lil ,,,tlN n,~,~T ,[,UN, Glass vessels even if used for storage or used to cook hot food, do not require kashering for they do not absorb. Simply washing suffices. However, there are those who are more stringent and hold that glass vessels may not be kashered even by immersion The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly provides guidance in matters of halakhah for the Conservative movement.
    [Show full text]
  • Where Does Jewish Teaching Come From? the 3 Parts of Our Bible
    12/11/2018 Understanding Jewish Religious Values & Their Role In Health Care A View From Jewish Tradition Rabbi James A. Gibson, Temple Sinai, Pittsburgh, PA Where Does Jewish Teaching Come From? Torah (5 Books of Moses) Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy (compiled from 1850-650 BCE) Seen as source of God’s authority in the world Understood by Jews as God’s will for the Jewish people Contains 613 Commandments knows as mitzvot Judaism, despite its many streams, sees its mission and integrity in interpreting and applying these laws to our lives These laws cover our relationship to God through ritual and every conceivable human interchange, from criminal jurisprudence to labor law, from marriage & divorce to how we treat animals The 3 Parts of our Bible: Torah, Prophets, Writings Total of 39 books: Torah – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy Prophets - Joshua, Judges, I/II Samuel, I/II Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi Writings - Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, I/II Chronicles 1 12/11/2018 The Five Books of the Torah Are More Authoritative than All Other Bible Books Example of Abortion – The Book of Jeremiah Jeremiah 1.5 The word of God came to me: Before I created you in the womb I selected you; Before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet concerning the nations. This verse is regularly used to infer that the
    [Show full text]
  • Law: Continuity and Change in the Early Modern Period, 2008, Yeshiva University, New York, NY
    EMW - Workshops EMW 2008 EARLY MODERN WORKSHOP: Jewish History Resources Volume 5: Law: Continuity and Change in the Early Modern Period, 2008, Yeshiva University, New York, NY Table of Contents Expanding Legal Horizons? · Edward Fram, Ben-Gurion University, Israel Shulhan `arukh Siftei Kohen-The Priest's Lips Turei Zahab-The Golden Columns The Legal Status of the Wife in Ashkenazi Jewish Legal Tradition: Continuity and Change in the Sixteenth Century · Elimelech (Melech) Westreich, Tel Aviv University Law School, Israel Responsa Maharshal Responsa Maharshal Shulkhan Arukh, Glosses by Moses Isserles Takkanot Kahal and the origin of communal structures in a Franconian village community in the 17th century · Stefan Litt, Bar Ilan University, Israel / Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, Austria , Community Statutes of Ühlfeld Challenging Herem in Hamburg, 1732 · David Horowitz, Columbia University, USA Decree of the Hamburg Senate in Response to Josel Joseph Jonas' Petition Letter of Josel Joseph Jonas to the Senate in Hamburg Petition of the Jewish Elders of the Ashkenazi Synagogue in Hamburg Supplication of Josel Josef Jonas of Hamburg The Herem as the Source of Authority of the Lay Governing Council 1 EMW - Workshops EMW 2008 · Anne Oravetz Albert, University of Pennsylvania, USA Exhortation to those who fear the Lord, not to fall into sin due to lack of understanding of the precepts of his Holy Law. Evasion as a Legal Tactic: The 1616 Amsterdam Regulations Concerning the Jews · Miriam Bodian, University of Texas at Austin, USA The Regulations for the Jews of Amsterdam (1616) Under imperial Protection? Jewish Presence on the Imperial Aulic Court in the 16th and 17th Centuries · Barbara Staudinger, Institute for Jewish History in Austria, Austria Supplication of Samuel Ullman to Emperor Ferdinand II in case of restitution ct.
    [Show full text]
  • Five Wishes Lets Your Family and Doctors Know
    Sermon by Rabbi Denise L. Eger, April 8, 2005 Shabbat Shalom. They say famous deaths come in threes. First was Teri Schaivo—made famous by the circus surrounding her life and death, then the Pope—buried this morning and Prince Rainier—longest reigning monarch in Europe. With all the talk of funerals and legacy, end of life issues we cannot help but reflect on these topics in relationship to our own lives. And given also that this week’s Torah Portion Tazria—is focused on illness and healing, plague and impurity—the Understanding from a Jewish perspective on death and dying issues and particularly end of life issues is very important. By now we are all at least familiar with the issues surrounding the death of Teri Schaivo. Her husband Michael decided after 15 years of trying to provide her with every hope, every possible treatment, to accept the opinions and medical advice of her doctors that –that nothing they could do would a) make Terri recover and b) that she was in a persistent vegetative state and that she had no real consciousness given the state of decay of her brain. Her parents, the Schindlers, fought him tooth and nail, taking their case through the State courts, and by act of Congress—through the federal system several times trying to prevent him from removing the feeding tubes that kept Terri “alive.” Tonight I won’t try to address the sheer audacity, imprudence and unethical and politicizing tactics of Tom DeLay, Sen. Bill Frist, the Congress, the President and his governor brother—Jeb of Florida.
    [Show full text]